


paper chains

by panlesters



Series: Amelia [3]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, but shh dont tell anyone, dan is soft boye, parent!phan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21955141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panlesters/pseuds/panlesters
Summary: Maybe Dan can stretch to enjoying Christmas properly, just for Phil. Maybe he has a little help along the way.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: Amelia [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580938
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	paper chains

**Author's Note:**

> for the lovely Anupama @introvertification!!! happy Christmas from your secret santa!! i hope it's been really good and i hope you enjoy this! <3

Christmas with a child has proven to be pretty difficult the last few years. Trying to juggle visiting family while looking after a baby, then a toddler, is definitely a lot more difficult than either Dan or Phil could’ve imagined, but it was all in preparation for this year, Phil thinks. Amelia has just turned four, and this is the first year she really understands Christmas, and Santa, and decorating the house. In amongst the commotion, it’s already the day before Christmas Eve and they haven’t decorated the house yet.

Phil had lost the rock paper scissors battle between decorating with Amelia and getting the last few bits before their trip to Wokingham on Boxing Day and so he heads out, whining about how Dan doesn’t even care about decorating that much. It’s true that Phil is definitely the more festive of the two, but Dan has plans to make sure the house is ready for Phil’s return.

As soon as Phil is out the door, Dan is on his feet.

“Ames!” he calls, “You wanna come help me decorate?”

Amelia is down the stairs in a flash, jumping up and down and giggling.

“I wanna help!”

“Okay, okay,” Dan laughs. “I’ve got a very, very important job for you, Ames.” He sits her down on the sofa and pulls out a pack of paper chains. “Can you help me make these?”

He teaches her how to stick the paper into rings and link them together, and soon she is occupied while Dan sets about putting fairy lights around the hall. He’s just finishing his job when he hears Amelia calling him. He looks down to see her running into the hall trailing a paper chain nearly as tall as him behind her.

“Wow, look at what you did!” he takes the paper chain from her and grabs the sticky tape. “Can you help me stick them up?”

He lifts Amelia up on to his back so she can tape the paper chain to the ceiling. It’s messy, and he’ll definitely need to redo it soon, but for now it’s perfect.

“You did so good, baby!” he tells her. “Now, how about we go and pick some music for when Papa gets home, yeah?”

Dan lets Amelia scroll through his Spotify until she finds the perfect song. Of course it’s Jingle Bells, when it’s the only Christmas song she really knows, but he makes sure to queue up a few classics too.

“What about the tree, Daddy?” she asks. It’s her favourite part of Christmas when one of her fathers lifts her up to put the star at the top, and she’s eager to get there.

“We should wait for your Papa to get home before we do the tree, okay Ames?” he reaches down and ruffles her hair when she pouts. “The tree is Papa’s favourite part, just like you. You want Papa to have fun too, don’t you?”

She nods then, and seems content with the idea of letting Phil in on the tree decorating too.

“How about this, Ames? Shall we pull some crackers?”

Phil is buried in bags when he gets home, and he rings the door bell in hopes of getting help from Dan and Amelia. He reaches out to get the door handle but it opens before he has time, and he sees Amelia stood in front of him, paper crown on her head, All I Want for Christmas Is You playing loudly in the background.

“Hey, kiddo!” he grins. “Wanna help me with the shopping?”

He gives her the lightest bag and they walk through into the hall.

“Wow, you’ve been busy, huh?”

“Look, Papa!” Amelia points up at her paper chain and Phil smiles.

“Did you make those, Ames? You’re very clever.”

“I stuck it there too!” Amelia tells him, clearly proud of how much help she had given Dan in decorating.

“You stuck it there?” Phil pulls a shocked face. “All by yourself?”

Amelia giggles. “No silly!” she points to where Dan is stood behind them. “Daddy helped me!”

Phil turns around and greets Dan with a peck on the lips.

“Christmas music?” Phil laughs as Dan presses another quick kiss to the corner of Phil’s mouth. “Who are you and what have you done with my husband?”

“I can turn it off if you want,” Dan tells him. Phil jabs him in the ribs and laughs softly.

“I love it,” he says quietly.

“Tree time!” Amelia yells, running into their living room in excitement.

“Amelia wanted to wait till you were home to put the tree up,” Dan shrugs. Phil smiles and follows where Amelia went.

“Papa, now you’re home we can get the tree! Daddy said we had to wait because it’s your _favourite_.”

“He _did_ , did he?” Phil turns and smiles at Dan stood in the doorway. He’s shrugging again, a faint blush on his cheeks. Phil reaches out to him and when Dan is within reach Phil presses a kiss to his neck. “You big softie, you.”

Dan gives him a gentle shove. “Watch it,” he feigns a grumble.

“Aw, gotta stay big gruff Scrooge, okay,” Phil teases him with a cheeky grin. “We know the truth, don’t we Ames?”

Putting up the tree is more of an art than a science, but when it’s done the decorating begins. It’s a mess, and Dan is resisting every urge to correct what Amelia puts on the tree. It’s endearing, he tells himself.

When it’s all done, Dan lifts Amelia on to his shoulders, ducking a little, so she can put the star on the top of the tree. It’s a mess, but it’s theirs, and it’s all Dan and Phil have wanted for a long time.

Later that night, after Amelia has gone to bed, a bottle of sherry is opened, and they sit by the gas fire. Phil’s free hand finds Dan’s, and he squeezes softly. Dan looks up at Phil, who has a disgustingly soft look on his face.

“What?” Dan whispers.

“Thank you,” Phil rubs a thumb across the back of Dan’s hand. “For all of this.”

“For you, my love? Anything.”

Dan earns himself a kick in the leg for that and he laughs softly.

“Really though,” Dan smiles. “I know how important Christmas is for you. And this is a special one. I wanted it to be perfect.”

Phil leans across and presses a long, languid kiss to Dan’s lips.

“It is perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed, have a lovely christmas if you're celebrating, and a great holiday season if you're not!


End file.
